Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Wednesday launched distribution of bicycles to Standard XI students of government schools and institutions aided by the government fully or partly.
The total number of students to be benefited under the scheme this year will be 5,68,359. Those belonging to all communities will be covered.
The bicycles were procured through bids and the amount spent was Rs.149.58 crore. The cost of each bicycle for boys is Rs.2,670 and for girls, Rs.2,555, according to an official release.
To mark the launch, the Chief Minister presented bicycles to 14 students at the Secretariat in the presence of Ministers K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran, Thangam Thennarasu and Tamilarasi and senior officials, including S. Malathi, Vishwanath Shegaonkar, D. Jothi Jagarajan and T.N. Ramanathan.
